The use of merchant value cards (such as gift cards and gift certificates) by consumers has become popular. Traditionally-issued value cards, such as a merchant issued plastic gift card, may be available at the merchant's brick and mortar store, however alternative purchasing options have developed. For example, some businesses now offer an online service where a user may optionally purchase a value card from a merchant's website and then redeem or present the value card for redemption at the merchant's location. However, different value card programs may require a merchant to use different custom software programs or services in order to accommodate different value card offerings. For example, a value card offered by one gift card company may not be compatible with a merchant's software program for processing gift cards offered by a different gift card company. Further, value cards purchased online may not be compatible with the existing merchant's point-of-sale (POS) software programs for handling non-electronically delivered value cards. The merchant's existing POS software programs may offer limited functionality with a gift card service provider, such as an online gift card service provider. The lack of cross compatibility between different value card services may increase the processing required to account and authenticate the value cards and may increase the overall resources necessary to offer online value card services.
As an example, the inventors herein have recognized that difficulties arise when processing and authenticating the online value cards, when a purchaser attempts to redeem the value card using a merchant's current POS system and/or gift tracking services. Difficulties also arise when purchasing an online value card and then attempting to use the card for online goods and services. Typically, with current online value card services, the merchant must login to, or otherwise authenticate the validity of an online value card using, a third party system that manages and tracks the value cards, such as the gift card system of a gift card company that offers the gift card. However, logging on to a third party system may result in a slow transaction processing time, which may be undesirable, particularly in a store such as a busy restaurant where there may be a high volume of low dollar value cards certificates introduced. In such prior systems, each merchant must separately develop an online program to interact with its specific type of POS system or use the third party system. Such customization is expensive and inefficient and merchants may find themselves attempting to run different types of accounting systems and programs to accommodate the online value card offerings along side their normal retail-issued valued card services. As a result, current systems force merchants to either expend significant resources to offer online value card services or forego (or limit) the offering of such value card services.
As disclosed herein, the inventors have developed systems and methods which address the above issues and provide electronic delivery and management of stored value cards. As described in detail below, systems and methods are provided which enable merchants to easily offer and track issuance and redemption of online stored value by creating systems that allow merchants the ability to easily utilize their existing stored value methodologies in the online arena. Further, the inventors have identified systems and methods enable immediate recognition and authentication of a presented value card (regardless of online purchase of the value card) into the merchant's current POS system and/or gift card tracking systems. For example, in some embodiments, merchants will be able to scan the UPC of an electronically-issued certificate, or input the unique ID of that certificate into their current POS system or Stored Value Tracking Service and have the certificate recognized and tracked with traditionally issued certificates or cards (e.g. plastic). The methods and systems herein reduce fraudulent attempted uses of electronically delivered certificates and enable a merchant to efficiently and cost effectively offer an online stored value service regardless of the merchant's current POS system.
Thus, systems and methods for managing electronically delivered value cards are provided. An example method includes receiving a set of identifiers corresponding to a merchant's stored value tracking system, receiving a request for an electronic value card, associating an identifier from the set of identifiers with the electronic value card, synchronizing the merchant's stored value tracking system with the issued electronic value card, and delivering the electronic value card to a customer. An example system includes a merchant stored value tracking system having a set of unique identifiers, a network communicatively linked with a merchant stored value tracking system; and a value card manager communicatively linked with the network. The value card manager may be configured to receive a request for an electronic value card, synchronize the electronic value card with the merchant stored value tracking system using the unique identifiers, and deliver the electronic value card to a customer for use in the merchant stored value tracking system.
As a further example, the value card manager may be configured to electronically issue value cards that are assigned redeemable value, where the value card manager synchronizes the issuance of each of the value cards with one or more merchant's stored value tracking systems. In some embodiments, the electronically delivered value card may be authenticated and processed for redemption by any one of merchant's stored value tracking systems without the merchant's stored value tracking system having to have real time communication with a secondary or external value card tracking system (system outside of the merchant's stored value tracking system). As such, the systems and methods herein provided provide a platform for integrating the value card market, allowing a merchant's store, whether it is an online store or a local store, the ability to accept and process value cards offered by various vendors using their existing merchant's stored value tracking systems regardless of the type of value card used.